Dougie Brown knows a thing or two about Lord’s finals.
The Warwickshire director of cricket played in five deciders at the home of cricket during his decorated career and, while this will be his first as a coach, he will take his side to headquarters with one simple edict – enjoy the day.
The Bears will be aiming to complete a trophy double when they meet Durham in the Royal London One-Day Cup final after they lifted the NatWest T20 Blast on home soil last month.
Victory would therefore ensure a season to remember – they are also well placed to finish second in the LV= County Championship– but Brown is wary of allowing such thoughts to consume his team in the lead-up to the match.
Instead he will ask his players to breathe in the atmosphere of a "special" day.
"It's an amazing occasion,” Brown told the match programme for the final.
"I remember speaking to Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott before we played Hampshire in the 2005 final and saying: 'You have got to walk to the ground, don’t drive. You have to walk there and enjoy the atmosphere and enjoy being in and around the environment'.
"People queue from early on and when you walk past them everyone knows who you are and why you are going to the ground.
"I've already said to the players that they need to enjoy every single moment because it is an incredibly special day, win or lose.
"If you go there with an open mind and look to enjoy the day regardless of the result you will come away from Lord's in a much better frame of mind than if you go there and it's all about winning.
“Of course it is about winning but it's about enjoying the day as well."
Varun Chopra will lead Warwickshire out aiming to further enhance his reputation as a skipper after being confirmed in the role on a permanent basis this week.
The 27-year-old opening batsman had been standing in for Jim Troughton, who was forced to retire last month with a degenerative back problem.
While Troughton is now consigned to helping Brown behind the scenes, Chopra has impressed as a tactician on the field after a tough initiation last season.
“Chops deserves a hell of a lot of credit for how he has gone about his own cricket and how he has gone about captaining in the field,” Brown said.
“But Troughts also deserves a lot of praise for how he has got involved. Last year he felt in a little bit of limbo as I and Chops did as well.
“No-one wanted to tread on anyone else’s toes. This year we have all taken more definite roles.
“That is certainly working. Chops’ captaincy has been excellent. He has been an aggressive captain, which I like, and he is prepared to take a bit of a gamble every now and again.”
Royal London One-Day Cup final facts
*Durham and Warwickshire have won five matches apiece of their last 10 List A meetings. Durham have won three of the last four, including this year’s group stage clash at Gosforth.
*All of the last five and nine of the last 11 List A matches between these teams have been won by the team that batted second.
*This is Warwickshire’s 18th domestic List A final. They have won eight and lost nine of their previous 17 Lord’s finals. Durham won their only previous domestic final, in 2007.
*Durham have won their last five completed Royal London One Day Cup matches. They last won six consecutive completed List A games in 2007, when they went on to win the Friends Provident Trophy.
*Rikki Clarke’s dot ball percentage of 66% in Royal London One Day Cup 2014 is the highest of anyone to deliver at least 10 overs.
*Of players with at least 10 wickets in Royal London One Day Cup 2014, Paul Collingwood (3.99) and Clarke (4.07) have the lowest economy rates.
*Durham have hit 257 boundary fours in this year’s competition, 34 more than any other team. Warwickshire have hit 174 fours, the ninth most. Durham have hit 32 sixes, Warwickshire 18.
*Warwickshire’s Boyd Rankin’s economy rate of 3.92 in Royal London One Day Cup 2014 is the lowest of anyone to deliver at least 10 overs.
*Jonathan Trott has scored centuries in each of his last three List A innings against Durham – in 2007, 2010 and this season.